Phillips has message for fans

That’s about as huge of a win as the Reds have had all season. Down 6-0 in the top of the sixth inning, they roared back with seven unanswered runs for a 7-6 victory over the D-backs. It was the biggest come-from-behind victory since May 21, 2007, vs. the Nationals (also six runs).

The Three Stars:

No. 3 star: Joe Saunders, ARI — 6 ip, 4 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 5 K, 86 pitches/53 strikes. Saunders took a no-hitter into the fifth and was dealing strikes. Through the third, he had 30 pitches/21 strikes. He retired his first 10 in a row and 14 of the first 16 with only two walks mixed in.

“They were sailing along pretty good. Saunders had a no-hitter through five and had us eating out of his hands,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said.

No. 2 star: Todd Frazier — 1-for-3. After fouling off a squeeze bunt attempt, Frazier laced a RBI single off of Brad Ziegler for the go-ahead run in the four-run seventh.

“We know we can hit,” Frazier said. “Do we want Joey in there? Of course. At the same time, we have to play without him. We understand that. We have to put big innings together. When we have runners on, we have to do something with it. We did today. It was pretty cool.”

No. 1 star: Brandon Phillips — 2-for-4, HR, 5 RBIs. Phillips brought his team back from the dead in the sixth with his three-run homer off of the left field foul pole vs. Saunders. In a 2-2 count in the seventh, Phillips’ two-run double tied the game.

Phillips wasn’t in a great mood postgame, however. He was disappointed by the fans that wrote off his team and booed heavily when it was 6-0 as Mike Leake gave up three runs in the top of the sixth.

“It started off ugly, but the ending of the game was beautiful,” Phillips said. “I’m glad we won that game because I know a majority of you all was going into panic mode, knowing we should be winning games and we don’t have our best hitter in the lineup. I love the fans out there, period, but I feel all the booing out there was unnecessary. We’re in first place. We’re playing good baseball.

“I know we didn’t do our job early in the game. It’s not like we did it on purpose. I feel like if you’re going to boo somebody, wait until the end of the game is over. You never when guys will come up in key situations.”

Here’s one more quote from Phillips: “The win today, it makes us feel good to shut a lot of people up. We can just build off that win. It’s time for us to start attacking teams earlier instead of waiting until the last minute. The way we won the game just shows you that the game is never over, regardless of the fact. You just have to keep on going.”

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8 Comments

Thanks to Brandon Phillips for his comments, As a fan baseball games can be very frustrating and we show a lot of knee jerk reaction over things that we didn’t expect. Mike Leake has proven himself to be a pretty good pitcher and he certainly belongs in the rotation. We have to be aware that there will be some days when things don’t go as planned. Mike Leake, I hope, will be in the rotation for a lot of years.

I can’t imagine an actual fan ever booing their team! Especially so early in the game. I mean seriously- why go to the game at all If you aren’t going to support the players. Mike Leake and the rest of the pitching staff have done a gret job this year and for people to react so quickly to one bad outing is pretty pathetic. It’s sad that our guys are in first place and have to put up with such fickle fans.

Yeah the booing thing is BS fans!!! You’re getting to see some great baseball this year. So STFU! I wisjh I lived close enough just to be able to go to the ballpark and you guys get to be there and see them play and still have the audacity to booo the team? Get a life! Leake will be fine. He will have games like last night 1 out of every 5 starts. Some days he will just not have his command. But it is always great to have his bat in the lineup. Many fans dont take that aspect into his starts! The kid is an ATHLETE and a HITTER. I agree, he will be pitching in our staff for years to come. Meso called a pretty poor game last night! You don’t throw Blanco fastballs, plain and simple, nobody does. That’s why that homer yesterday was his first of the season. Thats one of the main reasons Meso is not playing everyday. He has a lot to learn.

So positive and negative this team reminds me a lot of 2010. Good pitching and finds a way to win on the positive side. On the negative side, too many holes that on offense that shows its self in inopportune times. I am happy for the win and hoping Phillips does not have to continue to do it himself for the next 4 weeks. Bruce time to step up to that next level. You have it and its time to be a consistent force.

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